Everyday Skills That Can Improve Your Ability to Run a Small Business

As a small business owner, there are many skills that you can develop in order to help you look after and develop your company. Although many of these skills are business-related, developing personal skills that you use every day can also be beneficial to you as an entrepreneur. We’ve listed some everyday skills that all small business owners can benefit from learning or improving.

Driving

Even though public transport has certainly improved in recent years, driving is still an essential skill to have. This is especially true for entrepreneurs, who may have to travel far and wide to meet with clients, attend events and more, in order to help their business grow and develop. Having your own vehicle could even benefit the people that you employ, as you’ll be able to start a carpool scheme to the office, which will help you and your employees save money on petrol. Head over to Toptests to find free resources for getting started with learning to drive.

Time Management

As the business owner, it can be both exciting and scary when you realise that you don’t need to answer to anybody. You decide the days and times that you work as an entrepreneur, what to pay other people who work for you, and how much you earn. Although this is a great way of life for many people, it is also a big responsibility that requires excellent time management skills. By brushing up your time management skills, you’ll not only find that your business runs more smoothly, but also your life!

Rapport Building

Networking and meeting new people is often part and parcel of a career in entrepreneurship, so it’s important for small business owners to do as much as they can to improve their social confidence, interpersonal skills, and their ability to build good relationships with others. Building a good rapport with potential clients, customers, or even investors is often essential for business success. Improving your communication skills and becoming a better listener will help you to build better rapport.

Empathy

Empathy is the ability to relate to others and ‘put yourself in their shoes’. As a business owner, it’s important to be empathetic, especially towards your customers and the people in your employ. As a business owner, you are unlikely to get a lot of respect if you simply brush off people’s problems or fail to even try and understand. Improving your ability to empathise will not only affect your professional relationships, but can also improve your relationships with others personally, such as family members, children or friends.

Critical Thinking

Being able to think critically is a skill that many entrepreneurs need. No matter which line of business you are in, you will need to be able to critically assess decisions before making them and be able to really weigh up the pros and cons of any moves that you make.

As a small business owner, don’t just focus on business-specific skills when it comes to improvement. These skills relate to various parts of life, and can also help you be better at running your business.

Nathan Goodman is the bestselling author of The Jana Baker Spy-Thriller Series. "A terrorist on the loose, a country in panic, and time is running out..." For a free copy of book 1, The Fourteenth Protocol, visit the author's website.